Drink Package Questions

Current NCL fan planning first Carnival cruise. Questions about the Carnival drink package:

1 - Is the drink package offered as a perk on any ships as is done at NCL?

2 - I have seen the limits on beer of $5 and mixed drinks $8. Is that still the limit and how does it align with most posted prices? NCL has limit of $15 so martinis, daiquris, etc fall within that range. Are you limited to beer and standard liquor drinks on Carnival?

Thank you in advance.

No, you must purchase it. It's $5 per day cheaper ahead of time and the price is increasing by $2 per day January 1.

Limit of 15 alcoholic drinks per day. Drinks up to $50 each included I don't know of any that cost that much but there may be. All nonalcoholic drinks are included, no limit. Buckets of beer, drinks in souvenir cups, and the tall beer things (can't remember what they are called but are like 144 oz I think) aren't included.

You can find all the specifics of Cheers on Carnival.com.

The only drink I have heard of that costs close to $50 is a champagne in the steakhouse. Never tried it. Maybe I will as we cruise in 4 more days. The drink package if purchased ahead of time is $49.95mper day and both people in the cabin must purchase it.

No carnivals is much more inclusive than Norwegian’s - except you are limited to 15 alcoholic drinks a day. Limited to the point that if you drink 15 drinks, you are cut off and can’t even pay for a 16th drink. If that doesn’t bother you, and it’s worth paying for (as opposed to the perk), it’s a better package.

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I prefer Carnival's program to NCL's. Carnival offers better alcohol. There is a 15 (alcoholic) drink limit with Carnival, but that's never been a problem. NCL has some nice brands, but they are priced just over the $15 limit. I tried to find the elusive $50 drink over Thanksgiving while aboard the Dream, but no luck. I was quite happy with my $11 Aberfeldy 18-and-waters.

Carnival never offers the Cheers! package as a perk, and it doesn't ever go on sale. The best you can do is buy it before boarding for a slight discount.

I've purchased the Cheers package for my upcoming cruse in April. Of course my mother nearly had an heart attack when I told her the total package will cost me $918 and her response was, "Are you just going to be drunk the whole cruise?!?" Well of course not but Its much more than a alcohol package since all non-alcoholics are included as well. 1.) I get to try other types of drinks without worrying about the cost 2.) Bottle water is included and recently I gave soda the boot so I drink lots of water now 3.) Teas are included

Pregnant women are forced to buy the package if others in her state room wish to purchase the package. She will then not be allowed to consume any of the package. It is a ripoff!

Current NCL fan planning first Carnival cruise. Questions about the Carnival drink package:

1 - Is the drink package offered as a perk on any ships as is done at NCL?

2 - I have seen the limits on beer of $5 and mixed drinks $8. Is that still the limit and how does it align with most posted prices? NCL has limit of $15 so martinis, daiquris, etc fall within that range. Are you limited to beer and standard liquor drinks on Carnival?

Thank you in advance.

Carnival doesn't offer it as a perk but also doesn't jack up the price of the cruise from offering it as a perk.

Pregnant women are forced to buy the package if others in her state room wish to purchase the package. She will then not be allowed to consume any of the package. It is a ripoff!

Yes, Carnival requires all adults age 21+ in a stateroom (or even on the same booking, I think) to purchase the package. There are ways around that, though.

Thank you all. Nothing like "drink package" in the title to elicit replies!:) So I guess the thing to do is compare the price including the drink package to the NCL jacked-up price. Of course one must consider the itinerary etc etc as well. I don't know where I saw the beer and drink limit of $6 and $8. Must have been old or just incorrect info. I also thought I saw a mention of package included in reference to a Carnival cruise. Also wrong unfortunately. I am only good for 7 or 8 drinks a day compared to maybe the full 15 back in the day, but what I found with NCL was that I could try lots of drinks I have never had before and that justified paying a bit more. If I was tied to a certain budget you could be sure I would not be buying $14 specialty drinks. With water, soda etc. I could rationalize it for my wife as she has no more than 3 or 4 alcoholic drinks a day. Now I need to move on to find out how "flexible" the dining package is. I know nobody can beat NCL on that but if they can come close it's good.

Thank you all. Nothing like "drink package" in the title to elicit replies!:) So I guess the thing to do is compare the price including the drink package to the NCL jacked-up price. Of course one must consider the itinerary etc etc as well. I don't know where I saw the beer and drink limit of $6 and $8. Must have been old or just incorrect info. I also thought I saw a mention of package included in reference to a Carnival cruise. Also wrong unfortunately. I am only good for 7 or 8 drinks a day compared to maybe the full 15 back in the day, but what I found with NCL was that I could try lots of drinks I have never had before and that justified paying a bit more. If I was tied to a certain budget you could be sure I would not be buying $14 specialty drinks. With water, soda etc. I could rationalize it for my wife as she has no more than 3 or 4 alcoholic drinks a day. Now I need to move on to find out how "flexible" the dining package is. I know nobody can beat NCL on that but if they can come close it's good.

What dining package?

Thank you all. Nothing like "drink package" in the title to elicit replies!:) So I guess the thing to do is compare the price including the drink package to the NCL jacked-up price. Of course one must consider the itinerary etc etc as well. I don't know where I saw the beer and drink limit of $6 and $8. Must have been old or just incorrect info. I also thought I saw a mention of package included in reference to a Carnival cruise. Also wrong unfortunately. I am only good for 7 or 8 drinks a day compared to maybe the full 15 back in the day, but what I found with NCL was that I could try lots of drinks I have never had before and that justified paying a bit more. If I was tied to a certain budget you could be sure I would not be buying $14 specialty drinks. With water, soda etc. I could rationalize it for my wife as she has no more than 3 or 4 alcoholic drinks a day. Now I need to move on to find out how "flexible" the dining package is. I know nobody can beat NCL on that but if they can come close it's good.

Every time I've priced NCL compared to CCL they are always several hundred dollars more and that's after factoring in the cost of Cheers. I just priced a 4 day Sky cruise and it was "starting at $680 per person". Carnival has a "starting at" price of about $230 for a 4 day cruise. So in my view NCL is jacking up the price, which of course stands to reason since nothing is really free.

CCL doesn't have enough specialty restaurants to have a dining package.

Pregnant women are forced to buy the package if others in her state room wish to purchase the package. She will then not be allowed to consume any of the package. It is a ripoff!

Where did you get this info from? I asked my PVP about this very issue before our cruise in 2015 because DW and I were trying to get pregnant. It turned out that she was not pregnant for the cruise, but our PVP said that if she was indeed pregnant, we would be able to submit something from her doctor (likely on office letterhead) stating that she was pregnant and her need to purchase CHEERS! if I wanted to would be waived. Again, she turned out not to be pregnant and we both bought the package, but we were informed should would NOT have to if it came to that. Maybe it is a new policy? It would seem silly to me to force someone to purchase an option they medically cannot use. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just looking for some confirmation that what you're saying is true and not just a random statement.

Where did you get this info from? I asked my PVP about this very issue before our cruise in 2015 because DW and I were trying to get pregnant. It turned out that she was not pregnant for the cruise, but our PVP said that if she was indeed pregnant, we would be able to submit something from her doctor (likely on office letterhead) stating that she was pregnant and her need to purchase CHEERS! if I wanted to would be waived. Again, she turned out not to be pregnant and we both bought the package, but we were informed should would NOT have to if it came to that. Maybe it is a new policy? It would seem silly to me to force someone to purchase an option they medically cannot use. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just looking for some confirmation that what you're saying is true and not just a random statement.

I think back before they added all the nonalcoholic beverages or whatever the "enhancements" were they allowed a Drs note, but now there are no exceptions. Could you imagine all the "Drs notes" that would be popping up so that only one person per cabin had to buy? Just because someone is pregnant (or on medication or whatever) doesn't mean they won't drink even if they aren't supposed to. Plus with all the nonalcoholic options available, it's not like they can't get any benefit from it. The person who will be doing the heavy drinking will just need to decide whether or not it's worth the cost vs paying as you go. You can see the FAQs here: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1106/~/cheers%21-beverage-program

I completely get where you're coming from, and don't necessarily disagree with your comment about "doctor's notes", I'm just going by what my PVP told me a little over 2 years ago. It's entirely possible (if not probable) things are different now than they were then, I was just looking for something from Carnival stating NO exceptions will be made, for ANY reason, or someone else's experience. I've read the FAQs and know what they say, but they also don't say "no exceptions will be made" (unless I missed that, which is possible).

I think back before they added all the nonalcoholic beverages or whatever the "enhancements" were they allowed a Drs note, but now there are no exceptions. Could you imagine all the "Drs notes" that would be popping up so that only one person per cabin had to buy? Just because someone is pregnant (or on medication or whatever) doesn't mean they won't drink even if they aren't supposed to. Plus with all the nonalcoholic options available, it's not like they can't get any benefit from it. The person who will be doing the heavy drinking will just need to decide whether or not it's worth the cost vs paying as you go. You can see the FAQs here: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1106/~/cheers%21-beverage-program

I think you're right. This was at a time when you couldn't get non-alcoholic sports drinks or coffee so my life partner got no value whatsoever out of the package and wound up using a lot of my 15 drinks daily!

You can purchase discounted gift cards through Allstate Rewards and AARP Rewards at a 10% discount and then preorder cheers through carnival using the gift cards. Thats the best discount you will find on the cheers package.

I completely get where you're coming from, and don't necessarily disagree with your comment about "doctor's notes", I'm just going by what my PVP told me a little over 2 years ago. It's entirely possible (if not probable) things are different now than they were then, I was just looking for something from Carnival stating NO exceptions will be made, for ANY reason, or someone else's experience. I've read the FAQs and know what they say, but they also don't say "no exceptions will be made" (unless I missed that, which is possible).

I don't know of a place that spells it out more than what it already says of "Each adult assigned to the same stateroom must purchase the program" but I do know that lots of people have posted that they have contacted Carnival directly and that's what they have been told. You could always call the Fun Shops at 800-522-7648 and ask them since that's their department. They should also be able to provide it in writing as well if you request it.

Sorry sbout the term "dining package". What I meant was "flexible dining". I know Carnival has a form of this, a hybrid of traditional and flexible. The complete flexible dining on NCL is what won me over to start with. I have never had a desire to be told when or with whom I may dine.

There is your time dining with means you can have dinner anytime between dinner hours (could be a wait). There are other free dining options for lunch and breakfast besides buffet and MDR.

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Sorry sbout the term "dining package". What I meant was "flexible dining". I know Carnival has a form of this, a hybrid of traditional and flexible. The complete flexible dining on NCL is what won me over to start with. I have never had a desire to be told when or with whom I may dine.

There is no "hybrid." You can select either fixed time dining (traditional) or Your Time Dining, which is similar to NCL's freestyle (or so I understand).

Basically with YTD, you show up at the dining room any point during the open hours and check in. They will either seat you right away, or you will have a little wait. It works just like a land-based restaurant. Note: If you like your server and want to sit in their section again, just ask for them when you check in on subsequent evenings.

You cannot go back and forth between traditional and YTD.

Yes, Carnival requires all adults age 21+ in a stateroom (or even on the same booking, I think) to purchase the package. There are ways around that, though.

So the way around a pregnant woman "having" or "forced" to buy a cheers package is for NO ONE in that cabin to buy it! Put your big boy pants on and take one for the team if YOUR wife is pregnant. Just sayin....:rolleyes:

There is no "hybrid." You can select either fixed time dining (traditional) or Your Time Dining, which is similar to NCL's freestyle (or so I understand).

 

Basically with YTD, you show up at the dining room any point during the open hours and check in. They will either seat you right away, or you will have a little wait. It works just like a land-based restaurant. Note: If you like your server and want to sit in their section again, just ask for them when you check in on subsequent evenings.

 

You cannot go back and forth between traditional and YTD.

I don’t think they want to go back and forth. I’ve sailed norwegian, celebrity, and carnival. I always choose anything dining but tend to eat early so don’t run into many line issues. But I’ve read on celebrity’s forums that many people with anytime dining complain about the long waits. I suspect that’s because they have more people who want anytime dining than seats assigned to it. On norwegian it’s a non issue. All dining is anytime dining and we haven’t ever run into long waits, even dining at 6:30 or 7.

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Put your big boy pants on

No thanks, I don't like wearing pants.

I'll continue to try to have as much information as I can before making a decision. I'll do what's best for me and my family based on OUR situation, like I did last October when I cruised with my then-pregnant wife. If you want to make decisions before being certain you have all the facts, well, more power to you. Call me crazy, I just like knowing that I've explored all possible avenues before I make my decisions.

Yes, Carnival requires all adults age 21+ in a stateroom (or even on the same booking, I think) to purchase the package. There are ways around that, though.

 

So the way around a pregnant woman "having" or "forced" to buy a cheers package is for NO ONE in that cabin to buy it! Put your big boy pants on and take one for the team if YOUR wife is pregnant. Just sayin....:rolleyes:

What I meant about "ways around that" was that, if you are sailing with a larger group (perhaps in-laws or even just friends) and the other party has their own, separate booking.......well, you just put the drinkers in one room and the non-drinkers in another when you book. Once on-board, swap rooms. Guest Services will be more than happy to make you a room key -- those that swap rooms will have to carry both a S&S card and a room key, but it works and is no big deal. If it is just you and your pregnant wife, I think, since you clearly had something to do with her being pregnant, you'll just have to suffer through the week and buy your drinks a la carte. :D